Work = Entertainment

Living where we do it's easy to forget that there is an area less than 10 minutes away that is opposite in every way possible. And I work there.
The area where I work is a high poverty area. It is a high drug area. It is a high prostitution area. I work in retail grocery so it's all around.
One way that you can tell if a person is going to be a problem is to look at how many layers of clothing they are wearing on a warm day. If they are sporting a knit hat, scarf, three coats, many layers of pants and have a beard just to top things off, then it's best not to start a conversation with them. But that's my job. They come up to me, I say something, and they have their 'in'. Poor souls are just plain attention starved.
The best of the lot are the ones that come up behind you and say something totally normal. You never see it coming. Tonight was a great example. A guy approached me wearing a puffy jacket and one of the circular scarves that skiers wear, on a day that was 70 degrees. Out of nowhere he says
'There are two kinds of great apes that are bigger than gorillas.'
Sure. Sounds reasonable. What do I know?
'One is only a meat eater. It eats only meat.'
Ok... Any poop in that diet? I'm thinking, and he is thinking he had me now so he lays it all out.
'The second largest, the one just bigger than a gorilla is nicknamed a Bigfoot.'
'Wow' I say, 'Is it named after the Bigfoot people see around here sometimes?'
Totally ignoring me he says 'It eats anything that looks good. It eats plants and meat'
I act like I saw something and start walking away. He follows.
'The bigger great ape, and the most dangerous only eats meat. It will eat any meat it sees. That's why people don't say they saw one ever. It's called an Abominable.'
'Like the snowman!?!' I say as I look for another living person to save me or maybe to pawn him off on. But crap - no one in sight.
'Abominables are really big. They eat you. They are the most rare. I saw it last night on tv. It was on a show on Sci-Fi. They said they are just hard to find, but then they eat you.'
Just then his caretaker finds him.
Yay! I'm free. Just in time to get called to check and listen to a lady that looked older than my 80 year old grandma tell everyone that she just turned 50 and to celebrate she is going home take some of her invalid boyfriend's medicine and then tomorrow she's going to quit heroin! Good for her. Now, the customers behind her thought that was more than they needed to know. It was obvious in their faces. Especially the 10 year old. Guess the parents will think twice about bringing a child out after dark in this area.

~P